


Bonding

by sunaddicted



Series: Sensory Prompts Drabbles [3]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Future Fic, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Parenthood, Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 08:58:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18312407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunaddicted/pseuds/sunaddicted
Summary: [...]what bothered him was her trembling, her muffled sobs, her desperate clinging to him as if she was begging him not to leave her.It broke his heart.





	Bonding

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: snow being shoved down the back of your coat. 
> 
> ***
> 
> Like in the comics, Barbara is Jim's niece and he has adopted her after his brother and his sister-in-law died in an accident. 
> 
> Also, s5 doesn't exist in this au.

_Bonding_

"How is she doing?"

Jim shrugged: it wasn't an easy question to answer to, no matter how people wanted to make it seem so; first of all, most of the times, Jim could hardly make out how he himself was feeling, let alone someone else, and secondly, he hadn't exactly been needling Barbara about her feelings - his niece had lost her parents and had been uprooted from her home in a matter of days, she didn't need her uncle to ask her to state the obvious.

"She looks-"

"-happy?" He couldn't help the bitter and disbelieving undertones in his voice - God, how he hoped that Barbara was happy but realistically? she most certainly wasn't. Jim had witnessed first hand how difficult it had been for Bruce to deal with his grief, despite Alfred's unwavering support, and he still remembered the gaping hole that had opened in his chest when his father had died - that would still leaked pus from time to time, despite how much time it had passed. 

"No" Oswald shook his head "She looks peaceful, though" he didn't add that, in her situation, it was the best she would be able to feel for a long while - he would never recover, not really. But she could move on past her grief with enough time and support, which was why he had told Martin to invite Barbara Gordon over for a playdate: orphaned of her parents and new in a city that devoured those who weren't strong enough, she clearly needed a friend. 

His son could use one too, anyway. 

"She was really excited at the idea of seeing a real manor"

"I'll have to offer her a proper tour when they're done playing in the snow, then"

Jim chuckled, nodding towards Barbara and Martin who were running around the garden cloaked in snow, uncaring about the cold like only children could he "It doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon" and maybe, that wasn't such a bad thing: playing so much would hopefully tire Barbara out enough that she wouldn't have nightmares for once. Jim didn't care that she inevitably woke him up when she climbed in his bed after a bad dream, neither did he mind the fact that all of her tossing and turning around always ended up with a kick to his shins or a punch to his ribs - no, what bothered him was her trembling, her muffled sobs, her desperate clinging to him as if she was begging him not to leave her.

It broke his heart. 

It was the reason why he had finally accepted the promotion to Commissioner, even if he had never liked the idea of sending people out to die while he comfortably sat behind his desk. But he just couldn't afford running certain risks anymore, he too had a family now: a little girl who depended on him coming back home at the end of the day.

"I have one trick or two that I sure will coax them inside" Oswald affirmed, voice playfully conspiratorial "In my limited experience as a parent, hot chocolate and cartoons are powerful weapons"

"I bet" those seemed to be fairly safe options "You're a good dad, you know?" Jim didn't think he had ever told Oswald, despite silently watching the way the other man had seemingly effortlessly introduced Martin to his own life. 

Oswald was thankful for the cold that has already stained his cheeks red, hosing his blush "I try"

"And you succeed"

"Thank you, Jim"

He shrugged it off: he was just being honest "Martin looks happy"

"One day, she will be happy too"

Even if a part of his brain - the viciously pessimist one - wanted to reject Oswald's comforting statement, Jim allowed himself to internalise it.

Wordlessly, Oswald accepted the bare hand that slipped in his gloved one and he squeezed it; the... thing between them was fragile and new, its development slowed down and almost arrested by juggling kids and the complex balance between their private lives and their jobs om opposite sidelines.  Even despite those setbacks, though, one of the things that Oswald had learned was that Jim was horrible at verbal communication, whereas he spoke as loud as thunder with gestures - it was all a matter of interpreting them. 

Oswald wondered about how Barbara was dealing with that; maybe she was doing okay - maybe it was a Gordon family trait. 

Or maybe she was torturing herself with thoughts about being a burden for her uncle to bear, something he hadn't even asked for. 

Oswald vowed to himself to talk to her soon and make sure she understood that her gruffy uncle absolutely wasn't any good with words.

"How's your leg doing?"

"Achy.  But it is to be expected with this cold and the humidity in the air" Oswald had barely even noticed the pain he was in before the other man had asked about it, as used as he was to field it and push it to the back if his mind so that he could go about his day like a functional human being.

It didn't always work. 

"Let's get you inside" Jim leaned in and kissed the other's cheek - quick, chaste barely there "You start on those hot chocolates. I want marshmallows on mine!" He shouted, walking away fast before Oswald could ask about the kiss; he definitely wasn't ready to talk about that even if he knew that, at some point, they would need to have a conversation about the two of them and where their relationship was going.

"Babs! Martin! Let's go inside"

"Already?"

Martin's crestfallen expression echoed Barbara's sentiment. 

"Come on" Jim bent down and helped the boy up, shivering when his fingertips brushed against the wet wool of his coat - and then his whole body sparked when his niece shoved a handful of fresh snow down the back of his collar, cold suddenly ramping up more than he could have ever imagine it being "Barbara!" Jim turned around and grabbed her, chuckling at her shrieking as he pushed her in the snow as Martin climbed his back, clearly trying to avoid the same fate "You pest"

"JIM!" Oswald leaned out of the kitchen window "You were supposed to take them inside, not to play with them! Hurry up before you all catch the flu!" He shouted before closing the window after taking one last look at the three of them: it was good seeing them laugh together, piled up in the snow. 

It gave him hope. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is my 200th work on ao3 🎊🎉


End file.
